There are clear do’s and don’ts with when writing a cold call script and those are outlined below.

Introduction

Do keep your introduction as brief as possible. When cold calling, you are calling someone out of the blue and your call is technically uninvited so you need to be completely respectful of the prospect’s time. That being said, keep the introduction as short as possible so that you get right to the point.

Don’t ask how they are doing. It may feel natural or needed to ask a prospect how they are doing at the beginning of a cold call, but If the person you are calling is busy, then exchanging the details on how they are doing to someone they do not know could be seen as you starting to waste their time.

Do introduce yourself and the company you are with.

Don’t give a full explanation on who you are and what role you play in your organization. A prospect might not be very interested in the fact that you are the regional application sales manager for XYZ Corp.

Doname drop in your introduction when possible. Either mention people in the organization that you have already spoken with or mention the names of individuals that you are planning on meeting with.

Confirming Availability

Do confirm that the prospect is available for your cold call. This can be accomplished by asking if you have caught them in the middle of anything or if they have a moment.

Don’t continue with the cold call script if the prospect is not available. You cannot create interest and rapport if the prospect is not completely available.

Value Statement

Don’t provide company or product description. At this point, the prospect will likely not have interest in your company and what it does. They only care about how they can make and save money and talking about your company or products does not tell that right away.

Do make your value statement as quantifiable as possible. “We help companies to decrease turnover by 18%..”

Do name drop other companies when possible in your value statement.

Qualifying Questions

Do tell the prospect in the cold call script that you are not sure if you can help the prospect. This decreases their guard and builds rapport.

Don’t ask too many questions or turn the cold call script into an interview.

Building Interest

Do share a couple of points to build interest once you qualify the prospect. This can be a couple of statements that expand on the value statement and draw in pain gathered from the qualifying questions.

Don’t go into a full solution overview. The goal of the cold call script is to build enough interest to schedule a first conversation.

First Conversation

Do operate with the goal of the cold call to get agreement to discuss the subject in more detail. This could be viewed as a first conversation.

Don’t walk away from an opportunity to begin the first conversation during the cold call.